The Three Kitties That Saved My Life by Michael Meyer

The Three Kitties That Saved My Life is a memoir about the author's loss of his first wife and the subsequent grief he felt. He takes the reader on a journey through that grief to the other side where three kitties await. The story begins on a heart-wrenching note with Ciba, Meyer's first wife.

He introduces her with his own memories of when they first met. The story fast-forwards to a dream trip to Ireland. After returning home, Ciba falls ill. She battles cancer and goes into remission followed by a surprising devastation. The first chapters will grip your heart and give you a new appreciation for your loved ones. Much of the book's middle is devoted to the introduction of the three kitties and is full of awareness and appreciation of life.

Michael Meyer is the first indie author I've selected for this blog. I have other indie authors in the wings, whose books I enjoy, but this one was especially touching and was a great blog introduction to the indie movement.

 

The Winter Prince by Cheryl Sawyer

This book was primarily a historical fiction, although the plot had some threads of romance. The story follows the life of Mary Richmond, whose marriage to the Duke of Richmond and closeness to the king give her a unique position to influence events. I enjoyed the rich description and attention to detail that Cheryl Sawyer gives her setting without in any way diminishing the storyline or characters.

The story follows war with King Charles and his parliament.  I found the book to be extremely heart wrenching and well-worth the read for the emotional tug between Mary and Rupert, a man with whom she is in love. She is already married in a time when divorce was rare.

I hate giving spoilers and will go out of my way to avoid it. To speak to the thing that bothered me about this book, I would have to give information about the ending. There was a scene between the characters that seemed out of character and out-right wrong to me, but to tell you why would be a huge spoiler.  So, I can’t tell you. Suffice it to say, I wasn’t crazy about the way the book ended. 

I love the way Cheryl writes. I am actively looking for more of her books, and while I did hope for a better resolution, the book was worth reading.

Haunted by Heather Graham

It's sometimes hard to branch out. We all have our favorite authors, favorite genres. I'm no different. But since starting this blog, I realized that I owe it to my audience to try new things and look through the general section of the library a bit more often.

In keeping with that idea, I discovered a wonderful author who I might have missed otherwise. Heather Graham writes ghost stories. And while I love scary stories, I've not read an actual ghost story for a long time. Haunted is a wonderful blend of haunted house and mystery and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Darcy is a paranormal investigator whose gift came after her close friend died in a car accident. The story takes some interesting twists and turns. While I thought I had the 'bad' guy pegged about half-way through, there were enough red herrings that I wasn't 100% sure until the end.